When you get into the habit of creating valuable content you’ll find that there are no end of ideas you can come up with for your blogs, newsletters, guides etc. But which ones should you invest time, money and effort in, and which should you reject?

Valuable to your business (in line with the business goals); valuable to your clients/customers (helps them solve their challenges) – that’s the balance you’re looking to strike with your content every time.

Here’s a quick checklist to use when planning your content to help you decide whether your ideas are worth spending time on. This ensures you focus on the stuff that’s really worth investing in, and stops your website (and your audience’s inboxes) getting bloated with worthless junk.

Does this content idea have legs?

IS THIS CONTENT VALUABLE?

YES/NO

1. Does this content have a clear business goal? Are we clear why we are creating it?

2. Does our audience crave this content? Does it answer a real question/solve a real challenge for a real person?*

3. Does this content fit with the story we want to tell? Is it in line with our message? Does it further our cause?

4. Is it unique? Different enough from other content we have created? Not repetitive?

If the answer is a firm ‘no’ to any of these questions, then park the idea. The content will not be valuable.

If your answers are a resounding ‘yes’ then use the further questions below to help you refine the content, to make it as valuable as can be.

*NB: Create every piece of content with a real person in mind. Who are you creating this piece of content for? If you’re not motivated to send it on to someone having posted it, it’s not worth writing. That’s the acid test.